Kohli ton headlines India's jittery win

South Africa's lower order gave India a mighty scare in Ranchi on Sunday (November 30) in the opening ODI before the hosts prevailed by 17 runs to take an early lead in the series. Virat Kohli's 52nd ODI ton headlined India's efforts with the bat that also saw Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul hit half-centuries. In pursuit of 350, South Africa's top three combined to score just 7 runs before Matthew Breetzke, Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch almost pulled off a heist.

In what has become a norm now, India lost the toss once again - for the 19th consecutive time - and that meant an aggressive approach was the order of the day given the dew threat. Yashasvi Jaiswal didn't wait one bit as he hit the very first ball for a boundary. An established player in Tests now, Jaiswal was presented a rare opportunity this series to impress in the absence of Shubman Gill. He certainly appeared to be in the zone as he cracked another boundary in the second over before pulling Marco Jansen for a six. However, Nandre Burger stopped the opener before he could cause more damage as Jaiswal found the edge through to the keeper.

India could have easily been two down in the same over when Rohit pulled one straight to the fielder at the deep but Tony de Zorzi dropped an easy chance to hand the 38-year-old veteran a reprieve. He certainly made good use of it as the boundaries kept flowing. Kohli in particular looked in great touch as he hit Burger and Ottneil Baartman for a six each as India raced to 80 in the powerplay. Rohit then swept Prenelan Subrayen for successive sixes as the duo continued from where they left off in the final ODI in Australia.

They brought up another century stand and registered their respective fifties in the process. Along the way, Rohit also broke the record for most sixes in ODI cricket as the senior pros laid the ideal platform for the hosts at 153/1 after 20 overs. Against the run of play, a delivery from Jansen kept low to trap Rohit lbw and South Africa sensed an opportunity to bring down the scoring rate. Ruturaj Gaikwad, playing his first ODI in almost two years, fell to a very good catch from Dewald Brevis and Washington Sundar, earning a promotion to bat 5, didn't impress either.

The scoring rate did dip as a result of these wickets with Kohli stranded at the other end. Rahul then joined forces with the 37-year-old to resurrect the Indian innings and the hosts slowly found some momentum again. Kohli moved to 98 with a boundary and eventually brought up a three-figure score for the 83rd time in his international career. What South Africa didn't anticipate was the shift in gears immediately after he went past 100 as Kohli smoked Subrayen for 20 runs in the space of four balls and followed it up with more boundaries. Finally, a mistimed shot ended his stay but Rahul then took charge at the death. A couple of sixes off Burger saw him move into the forties and Jadeja was finding some timely boundaries as well. Bosch however bowled a couple of excellent overs right at the death to deny India 350 by a solitary run.

With dew expected to aid the visitors in the chase, all they needed was a solid start to get themselves going. But Harshit Rana dented them very early with two wickets in his opening over. Rana found movement on both sides to account for Ryan Rickelton and Quinton de Kock and then at the other end, Arshdeep Singh sent Aiden Markram packing as South Africa were reeling at 11/3. But Matthew Breetzke and de Zorzi didn't let those wickets deter them as they kickstarted a counterattack. Both players continuously dealt in boundaries and that forced a change at both ends after eight overs from Rahul.

The two batters continued to bat in positive fashion though reviving hopes of a South African fightback. However, against the run of play, Kuldeep Yadav came into the attack and struck in his very first over to trap de Zorzi leg-before-wicket. South Africa still continued to take on the Indian attack though as Breetzke first hit a six and a four in successive overs before Brevis caused a bit of a flutter in the Indian camp with a mini cameo. He first cleared the ropes twice off Jadeja before smashing a no-look six off Rana. The aggressive approach eventually brought his downfall though as he mistimed one to give Rana his third wicket of the evening.

With half the side back in the pavilion inside 22 overs, the result appeared to be a foregone conclusion at this point. Breetzke, stranded at one end, helped himself to a half-century but it was Jansen who put India on the backfoot in a matter of few overs as he tonked Prasidh Krishna for two sixes and hit Kuldeep for a couple of fours and a six prior to that. He raced to a stunning 26-ball half-century as India were suddenly now under pressure to break the stand. Jansen continued to eat into the target before Kuldeep turned the game on its head by dismissing both the set batters in the space of three balls. By the end of that dramatic over, the visitors still needed 120 off 96 which was gettable but with only three lower order wickets left, the home side would have finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, South Africa were just not ready to give up yet. Bosch fetched a boundary each in the next three overs and Subrayen nailed the slog sweep off Kuldeep to keep the boundaries flowing. Even though Kuldeep got rid of Subrayen in his final over, Bosch joined forces with Burger to keep the fire burning for South Africa. Bosch looked in sizzling touch as he continued to find the boundary regularly much to India's frustration. Even after Burger's dismissal, South Africa appeared to be in the hunt when the equation came down to 38 off 18. Even though India needed only one wicket, Bosch farmed the strike and smashed crucial boundaries enroute his maiden half-century to eventually bring the equation down to 18 off 6. Finally, he mis-hit one with five deliveries remaining as South Africa folded for 332.

Brief scores: India 349/8 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 135, KL Rahul 60, Rohit Sharma 57; Ottneil Baartman 2/60) beat South Africa 332 in 49.2 overs (Matthew Breetzke 72, Marco Jansen 70, Corbin Bosch 67; Kuldeep Yadav 4/68) by 17 runs.